Okay, I know ice cream isn't life or death. At least not to you. But eating ice cream is pretty high on my list of things to do instead of kicking the dog or yelling at my poor husband.

But here's the point. 

Haagen-Dazs is facing pressures to cut costs, increase margins, blah,blah,blah just like the rest of us.

Rather than reducing quality, they have opted to make smaller portions (excellent idea for all of us --rethink the packaging and sizes of existing offerings).

But here's the lesson part of this little fable, they actually tell people about what they're doing. By communicating in advance, they actually gain support from their customers and re-inforce the quality element of their brand.

And with a name like that, brand is important. 

I got an invitation to an evening of pampering. Just for women and it's free. It's put on by a group of service providers - manicurists, pedicurists, massage therapists, and chiropractors. 

Who can resist that? We'll go to the event as individuals and leave as a group of friends.  We will all find a way to buy something - no matter how small, some will sign up for one service or another, and for just a moment, we won't be listening to the news. Instead, we'll be improving our local economy.

How might you offer something similar for your clients?

I got an e-mail from Hertz Gold Club about a change to their policies. It is not the first of these e-mails that I have received in the last few weeks but I still don't know what to make of it.

I can't tell if it is good news or bad and don't know if I will be paying more or less for gas from now on. Here is the content of the e-mail:

"Refueling Update

Hertz has discontinued the Flat Refueling Fee and is no longer basing the Fuel and Service Charge on local pump prices. This affects all North American corporate-owned Hertz locations. For information about our refueling options, click here. "

Is it just me?

When you click on the recommended link you get to this enlightening tidbit on their website :
 
"Hertz has reverted to our prior refueling options, effective December 1, 2008. This means the Flat Refueling Fee, and Fuel and Service Charges based on local pump prices, have been discontinued. All North American corporate-owned Hertz locations, including Airport, Hertz Local Edition® and Off-Airport locations in Canada are affected.*

Hertz has three refueling options available to meet your needs: 1.)You may purchase a tank of gas from Hertz at time of rental and return the vehicle with as little gas as you prefer. Please be aware that we are unable to issue a refund for unused fuel. However, this method eliminates the need for you to refuel the tank prior to returning. 2.)You can let us refuel for you and only pay for the fuel required to replace the fuel you used, and for the service and convenience of refueling the tank. 3.)You can stop and refuel the tank yourself, immediately prior to returning the vehicle.We apologize for any inconveniences this change may cause. No matter which Hertz refueling option you decide is best for your travels, we are glad you are choosing Hertz." (Note: numbering and bold fonts added by the author.)

Since there is an apology included in the above text, I think this means they are stopping the very cool policy of just charging local gas prices for refueling your tank when you return your rental car. But the second option on the above list sounds like the very policy they claim to be killing. And just when I had started to admire them for being extraordinary and for helping us weary business travellers save a few minutes in our rush to the airport. 

The whole policy was confusing when explained at the rental gate too but their retraction of the policy is certainly not very well worded. It must have been written by lawyers. 

And notice that immediately following the apology, they remind you how glad they are that you are choosing Hertz as the company you will overpay for gasoline.

If you are a software company, don't you think you should make it easy for customers to purchase your software online?Adobe has figured it out. Why can't big companies who provide software to accounting firms figure it out?

I have been trying to order a single user license of a piece of software since December 10 and have still not succeeded in getting a confirmation of my order from the salesperson assigned to my region. I faxed him my credit card on a written order form which was humiliating enough - I should have gotten a clue that their internal systems aren't very sophisticated. And I have called my "personal rep" twice and e-mailed him. He never remembers who I am and seems disoriented by my call. Maybe I am too small a fish for their company to worry about.

But if they were my competitor I would take full advantage of their bad big company behavior and win market share just by answering the phone, following through and treating people like people, not numbers. This is one of the leading companies providing solutions to accountants. Word on the street is that no one likes doing business with them. I'm starting to understand why. 

Are you making it hard for your customers to buy from you? I hope not.

Or at least the subject line on the e-mail? Can we talk about one of my hot-buttons for a minute?

It is e-mail subject lines. Yes they are important, especially if you have to rely on Outlook's sorting capabilities to find something. But I have solved the finding things issue by using a product called NEO (Nelson Email Organizer) which helps me find every e-mail in a matter of seconds.

What bugs me is seeing the same e-mail subject line used on a string of 40 messages. Especially when the subject line is one that I wrote in a panic because I didn't know how to correctly read my calendar and double booked an event.

So here's the string of e-mails that might result:

Email 1 SUBJECT: "I blew it - need to change the date"

Email 2  RESPONSE:  "re:I blew it - need to change the date"  

Email 3 PERSON DEALING WITH DATES: "re:I blew it - need to change the date"  


Email 4 PERSON COPYING 47 OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE INVOLVED WITH THE EVENT:  "re:I blew it - need to change the date"   

Email 5-100 ADDRESSED TO ME FROM  OTHER PEOPLE DOING SOMETHING ON THIS PROJECT : "re:I blew it - need to change the date"   


So what I end up with in my inbox are 100 e-mails all reinforcing the fact that I am an incompetent dufus who can't figure out how to read her calendar to set up a meeting.  And now 100 people have gotten written confirmation (from my own hand) that I am a screw up unable to read a calendar. The e-mail will sit in their inbox to be forever associated with me and this event. 

Please, when you have new content to add concerning any e-mail , take the time to change the subject line accordingly. Not only will it make your e-mails easier to locate, it might also save someone's fragile ego. 

If you have an employee on your staff who is in a position to delete checks after they are written, you need to make sure you are watching that bank statement.

Compare the cancelled checks to your system's printed check register and note any discrepancies. If you see a voided check on that register you should be able to find the original copy of that numbered check with VOID marked across its face.

Here's a story about one employee who embezzled more than $500,000 over a period of years from her small business employer using QuickBooks software.  

I am pretty sure it's hiding in plain sight, right there on your balance sheet. 

It could be in your accounts receivable or maybe it's tied up in the inventory that you have piled up in your warehouse. But the keys are right there on that balance sheet.

Take a look:

1. If accounts receivable grew more than revenue, then AR is your likely culprit. (Compare the % growth of revenue this year to the % growth of AR this year.) Investigate your collection activities and see if you can automate your processes. Or dedicate someone's time to the chore. Or e-mail invoices instead of using regular mail. Cash is critical in today's environment, don't let it slip through your fingers.

2. If inventory grew more than COGS, your problem is in inventory. Look at your product mix, talk to suppliers, weigh the trade-offs between good customer service and inventory carrying costs.

3. Look at your payables. Manage the payment terms with your vendors to find opportunities there.

And then be sure to keep your eye on operating cash flow. That is the critical measure that determines the sustainability of your organization. If your operations are not generating enough cash, no amount of revenue growth is going to keep you alive.

There are opportunities in every market.  What are you doing to succeed in today's world?

I had to reschedule a hair appointment. That's a big deal to a woman, especially when you miss an appointment and you are in the midst of a hair crisis. Particularly one I like to call the "big giant head" problem. That's when your hair grows not longer, just thicker. 

Anyway, I got a reminder call for the rescheduled appointment on Saturday. I had rescheduled for just a cut rather than the full treatment because their calendar was full. But the sharp woman on the phone gave me the reminder and then noticed that I wasn't getting the complete service. She could see my appointment history - or maybe one of my friends had secretly called her. Either way, she then said they now had room on the schedule for the full service - "would I like to schedule that?" Now picture the aforementioned big giant head totally covered in grey hair and you get a sense of the joy with which I responded, "yes please!".

Hair issues aside, what struck me about this interaction was:

1.) her efficiency and the pleasantness of the interaction.

2.) the information she had access to on her screen - my prioir history and the current schedule and alloted time needed, and she could match the information and book the appointment immediately

3.) she took the time to look for another opportunity to serve me. She could have just made the reminder and not bothered to check on other options.

4.) she just made a sale for her company.

How many times have you talked to someone at that level who has access to the right kind of information they need to make a customer happy and to generate more revenues for their company? 

This is an Aveda salon in Livermore and they do a million little things to make their experience stellar. But it all starts with the person on that phone.

Here's a great video from the smart people at Xplane that makes sense of the problem.  As a CPA, people ask me about what caused the subprime problem on a regular basis. Now I can send them to this website.

http://www.xplane.com/subprime/